


Charlie Walker

by Jadders92



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-08
Updated: 2015-06-08
Packaged: 2018-04-03 11:16:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4099039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jadders92/pseuds/Jadders92
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The reason the The Linguist. I decided to keep it separate so the part 3 was more easily accessible, but enjoy the original piece if your interest and remember to leave comments :) thanks guys.</p><p>If you would like to contact me, the way to do so is through this email: jadders92@hotmail.com</p>
            </blockquote>





	Charlie Walker

The honest truth is that I never really expected her to return, I never expected to see her again and that was fine, it's how it should have been. We agreed that our ‘relationship’ would have to end sooner or later and that it was for the best. She was engaged anyway and nearly twenty years younger than me, of course it had to end, the only real reason it started was because I was bored and she wanted to explore herself, no strings attached.

I hadn't heard from her for nearly five years when I saw her, taking me quite by surprise, walking through the reception area of the University of Glasgow. I was on my way into work, unusually late, and she was exactly as I remembered her, a quietly confident young woman, throwing fake smiles to the two lecturers that she was talking to. At least she had learnt some manners in her time away. What was she doing there? Why at my place of work? This was my safe place, the place I felt was my own.

I suddenly found myself stopping in my tracks and making a small amount of eye contact with her bright emerald eyes widening just enough that I could tell she wasn't expecting to see me standing there. I quickly moved and headed off towards my office to start my work for the day. When I got there I realised I was wearing the dark blue tie she always liked to see me in, quite the coincidence.

I nearly went the entire morning without any sign that she was in the building, in my personal space. I over heard another lecturer talking about her when I left the sanctuary of my office to grab a coffee. ‘She's going to talk about the Jameson case.’ For some reason that was important but I couldn't quite work out why, I'd heard of the Jameson case but at that moment I couldn't remember what or who it was about.

I quickly retired back to my office, coffee in hand and settled back to my work. That was until I received an email that the lecture she was giving would be replacing my own and that I would be required to sit in on and introduce her to the class. The worst case scenario, an entire hour listening to her speak about some topic that I had no idea about. The email had also stated that she would be making a quick visit in case I had questions. Perfect.

When she finally arrived, only an hour later, it was much clearer that she was a truly different person to the one I had known five years before. She was tired that much was obvious, and she still had no concept of what a professional dress code was. She wore her long dark green jumper, rolled up to her elbows, black skinny jeans and maroon vans, she carried her marvel covered tablet under one arm as she casually leaned against my door frame, the slight hint of a smile playing on her lips. At least she could see the funny side.

‘Hi’ she said simply, breaking the silence. She didn't bother waiting for me to offer, she simply sat opposite me and swung her legs over the arm of the chair, getting comfortable.

‘Hello Charlie.’ I said, trying to sound as casual as I could, though judging from the look I got, I had failed at that.

‘How are you?’ She asked, there was a clipped and professional tone to her voice that I wasn't quite used to.

‘Fine, and yourself?’ She was playing a game, to see who would crack first, that was it, well I wouldn't be the one to to bring up the elephant in the room.

‘A little worse for wear, but fine nonetheless.’ There was a painful honesty to her words. ‘I'm sorry about the whole cutting in on your lecture thing, I was just asked to come and speak, didn't have any idea that it would be your lecture.’

‘It's fine, I'm ahead of schedule anyway.’ I said, unsure of how to proceed. She gave me a quick look over and rested her head on her hand, covering her mouth with one finger.

‘Do you have any questions?’ She asked, almost mocking. I had plenty of questions, but we had an agreement, as far as I knew that still stood.

‘Yes.’ I paused, making my point clear. ‘What are you going to be talking about?’

There was a flicker of something in the corner of her eye, but it was gone before I could really tell what it was. ‘The famous Jameson Case.’ Her voice was harsh, a warning in her eye to tread lightly. I spent a good few moments just trying to figure out what was going on in her head, she knew I was and made no effort to stop me, the quiet confidence that I would never find out what I wanted to know. A familiar game we used to play, trying to read each other's mind to no success on either side.

‘Charlie, I'm just going to come out and say it. We had an agreement not to intrude into each other's lives and that means I have no idea why you're even here, I don't know what you do for a living and I don't know even know your last name.’ I said, bored of playing games. She seemed slightly surprised by my bluntness though, took a breath and gave me the answers I needed.

‘I'm a psychologist, a very particular psychologist and the Jameson case was about a man called Albert Jameson, a psychopath that had been ritualistically killing women all over America, I assisted in trying to secure the death penalty for him… and my last name is Walker. Is that enough to be getting on with?’ She finished. It all came flooding back to me, I had seen in it the papers and online. I had seen the picture they sent out of this devastating creature, he seemed like such a normal human being, a wife, three children and even a couple of dogs. I also heard about someone who had been shot on the case, my heart was suddenly in my throat.

‘I don't remember him getting the death penalty.’ I said. It was at that, I watched as she completely shut down, her eyes hardened and her body went rigid, she watched me with cold eyes, there was something there, that case had taken a toll on all involved. I briefly wondered if she had taken any time off afterwards, to recover.

‘Albert Jameson, is dead. I am very good at my job Leo.’ She said and left before I could respond. I knew she wasn’t the type to actually get involved in any conflict like that, there's no way she could've killed him.

 

Three forty five came faster than I had expected, I had hardly written anything for the introduction, but something would come to me, I was sure.

I made my way down to the lecture hall, there were few people around, the odd student stressing about exams and revision, but not the crowds that I would've expected before a lecture. I tried walking past Charlie and the department head, Greg Madden, talking, but to my disappointment I was called over.

‘Leo, over here.’ He said, the burly man that towered over me, to anyone else he would've been incredibly intimidating, but Charlie wasn't in the least bit concerned with that, in fact she looked comfortable and almost carefree. ‘I hope you two got a brief chat earlier, Leo here is one of the finest we have working for us.’

‘I gathered from our chat earlier, he seems very well put together.’ She had a great front, a friendly smiling face, her big eyes were always an advantage for her, as well as her dark blonde hair that fell nicely around her face and shoulders, making her a very attractive young woman.

‘Well thank you, I'll enjoy hearing your lecture.’ I said politely, there was an unspoken understanding, that in public we’re two strangers meeting for the first time in common circumstances.

‘Well, Miss Walker-‘

‘Please, call me Charlie, Miss Walker is far too formal.’ She interrupted.

‘Charlie, I'll leave you in Leo’s very capable hands.’ There was a very slightly flush in Charlie's cheeks, barely noticeable, but I'd seen it too many times before to miss it. He wandered away to attend to other matters and left us standing alone in the middle of the reception area.

‘Don't say a word.’ She said quietly. I couldn't help but grin like a child, she still had her sense of humour.

We walked into the surprisingly packed lecture hall, so that's where everyone had gone, and she had asked me to link her iPad to the projector. Once it was done and I'd given a brief intro, she began speaking. She spoke with eloquence and consistency and never once repeated her words to pad out the lecture, I watched her intently, it was strange to hear her speak in such detail about something that wasn't sexual. On occasion I'd catch her eye and there would be a small secret shared between us, a truth she wasn't telling my class, or a truth bent out of shape to allow her to keep her secrets. She moved around the room with a fluidity and awareness of her actions, she knew that the more she spoke about body language the more the class would try to assess her, but something told me that most of what she was saying was filtered in some manner.

From what I could tell, though, she recited the story exactly as it was reported. Jameson had killed twenty three women in a brutal manner and then upon realising what he had done to so many families, he killed himself. Charlie had explained it easily that his own family played a part in him realising his actions, but when I caught her eye I knew there was something more to that statement that she wouldn't reveal to the class.

‘Any questions?’ she finally said. Half the room raised their hands, a response I wasn't ready for or used to in any of my own classes. She half laughed and pointed to a random student who asked their question with a shaky but excited voice.

‘You said earlier that you believed Jameson was somewhat redeemable, but surely him killing himself proves that he was never going to be fixed?’ There it was, that dark look she had given several times during her lecture and then it was gone again before anyone noticed.

‘True, I have absolute faith that Mr Jameson could have been redeemed under different circumstances, however being chased across the country by the police and a psychologist can sometimes be a little hard to handle.’ There was a murmur of chuckling across the lecture hall, Charlie looked up at the screen, the dark cold look was back and this time it lingered a little longer than before. She quickly tapped on her tablet a few times and a new image appeared of a ladder, I couldn't quite see the words properly, but it looked like a ladder with stages written next to it.

‘These are the stages of grief, we all know them. Mr Jameson showed a lot of evidence that he was simply grieving after each killing, this right here is why I believed it was possible to save him. Psychopaths generally don't show this kind of emotion.’ The dark look disappeared before she turned to look at the class again.

Hands were still raised for questions, not as many but still some. Charlie again pointed to a random student to ask his question. ‘Is there a concrete reason why he started killing in the first place?’ Some of the hands went down again.

‘Of course! But we don't really know what it was, I never got that far I'm afraid.’ An outright lie, I knew Charlie well enough to know that her bravado of confidence was her biggest front when she was lying. ‘It could've have been for a number of reasons, the point is I never spent enough time with Mr Jameson to figure out what the root of it was, as far as I could see, he was simply a psychopath who began killing without a known trigger. I'm sure if the chase had continued on, we would've gotten there and he might have been saved.’

She pointed to another student. ‘Why were you working so hard to save a man who was killing women for an unknown reason?’ The rest of the hands went down. Charlie gave a half smile, a kind of ‘why would you ask that?’ smile.

Charlie cleared her throat and switched the images back to Mr Jameson on the screen. She barely glanced at his face. ‘If you had a son, a brother, a husband or a father, that you had known all your life or least known well enough to be sure of who he was, and someone like your Dr Wilson here,’ she pointed to me and I went still, she had barely engaged me in the lecture, I had simply sat quietly and listened, ‘a respectable, authority figure, a face you can trust, a man without reason to lie, came to your door and told you that the person you trusted most in the world had been killing young women viciously, brutally and ritualistically, how would you feel? You'd want to speak to that person, look in their eyes and find out for yourself if he was really capable of such things and upon finding out that it was true, all you'd want is for that person to be saved, the man you knew to be back in your life and for everything to return to normal.’

Charlie turned to see me, almost begging me to tell her what to say next. ‘My job has become very specific and very general at the same time, I have to believe that everyone is not only capable of, but worth saving. Our biggest enemy is the one inside our heads, we convince ourselves of things that justify what we truly want, we bend truths so out of shape to fit our own purposes that we forget that it was in fact once a truth… Take for example someone who kills identical women consistently over the period of a year, the reasons behind that could be that they're simply angry at their own partner and they've twisted that truth into something much more terrifying. Granted it takes a fair amount of convincing but anything can be done. I had to believe he could be saved for the sake of his family. I hope that answers your question.’ Because I won't tell you anymore; the implied ending to that sentence. ‘Thank you for listening.’ She said and a small round of applause echoes the hall.

Charlie strode over to the desk where I was sitting and grabbed her phone. She looked at me with a hint of helplessness that I had seen before when she hadn't known what to do, when she needed the only kind of comfort I could give her. ‘You're not married?’ I suddenly blurted out. The hall was emptying, no one was coming over to ask questions, they seemed to get their fill of information during the precious hour they had with her. ‘Last time I spoke to you, you were getting married.’

‘Well, as you might be able to tell, that didn't happen.’ It was the signal to end the conversation, but I decided to ignore it and press for more.

‘Why not? You were so happy with him.’ I asked as gently as I could.

‘Why do you think?’ She gave me a look explaining that he had found out about her affair and left. How could she communicate so much in a simple look?

‘I'm so sorry.’

‘I'm not, I don't regret a single thing.’ She said coldly. ‘I'm leaving for London next week, I've some work to do up here… I might need your help on a couple things, can I call you?’

‘Yes.’ I said. She simply nodded and began leaving the lecture hall, but before she got to the door she turned and gave me her signature smile.

‘I guess you didn't get much sleep last night?’ I frowned at her. ‘You look like shit.’ She winked and left the hall, I felt my face form a smile and soon found myself laughing.

 

I had stayed late at work to get things finished and when I had finally decided to leave the almost darkened building I noticed the the lecture hall door was open and there was soft mellow music coming from inside. I poked my head around the door to see Charlie sitting in the front row of the hall staring up at the screen, in complete emotional pain and sorrow. I stood watching only for a few seconds before making my presence known. Her eyes flickered towards me but her face stayed the same, she was never really afraid to be honest with me, we had shared something once and it was clear that we both got something from it.

I sat down beside her and her body relaxed, she still looked so young in her features, except in her eyes. There was something old and tired about them, like someone who had read too many books. She was staring at a silent video that was playing, a chase that happened in a wooded area, people were running wildly forwards, the video was grainy and very unclear, but it was clearly Charlie leading the charge, they came to an open area where a man stood over a woman and three children, he had a gun.

The video stopped and I looked at Charlie, she had stopped it there and sighed. I wasn't sure of what to say, so we simply sat listening to the soft voice of Marcus Foster echoing throughout the hall. ‘It wasn't reported.’ She said, her voice cracked and it was hard to hear.

‘What wasn't?’

She took a breath and looked up at the screen again. ‘He killed his family before he killed himself, he didn't shoot them, but he poisoned them and for a long time I believed that his wife had played a part in their deaths. But I was wrong.’ She turned to look at me, her eyes filling up with water. ‘It wasn't reported, that I was the one who killed them. I spoke with Albert more than anyone and I tried so hard to convince them that he could be saved, that I could save him, I could help him, put up securities in his mind and put in place mental blocks, he had all the potential to be a normal human being. But they told me no, that he was a monster, the people I was working for only wanted one thing from me, they wanted me to force his mind towards suicide. He was so fragile and I didn't realise it at the time, he would never have killed them if it wasn't for me.’

I had no words, as far as I knew Charlie had never lied to me, she had always tried to be as honest as possible, we couldn't lie to each other, we couldn't tell each other too many truths, but lies would've meant everything fell apart. I put my arm around her shoulders and kissed her temple, the only thing I could do. We sat and watched the screen for a while, the image of Charlie getting there, just a little too late, everyone so scared of what would happen next.

‘How many times have you watched this?’ I asked quietly. Charlie laughed and wiped away any remaining tears.

‘Too many probably.’ She admitted. I took the tablet from her and got rid of the video from both screens. ‘Thanks.’

‘For what?’

‘For making me feel normal again.’ She laughed.

‘Can't imagine it's too hard in your line of work to feel normal? Working with psychopaths and all that.’ I laughed with her.

‘You'd be surprised.’ She said shaking her head. She smiled at me and I felt a small jump in the pit of my stomach; before either of us really knew what was going on, our lips were on each other, tongues invading each other's mouth, teeth dragging over full lips, hands in hair, tasting her was so familiar to me, before reality set in and she pulled away from me.

Her cheeks were flushed and her lips were red, it was like looking at the Charlie I had known five years previously. But there was no lust in her face anymore, just fear.

‘I'm sorry.’ It seemed like the right thing to say, but the way she was looking over my face, assessing me, she wasn't convinced that I meant it. Charlie blinked a few times, before collecting her tablet and leaving the lecture hall. I sat alone for a few moments trying to figure out what just happened, she was upset, we kissed, no resistance from her, and then she was scared and left. That was it.

Charlie had always been someone that I wondered about on occasion, she was fun and exciting, we agreed that it was just sex and we're both satisfied with that deal. We walked away from each other when things came to an end and I never heard from her again, not until she showed up randomly that morning. We never even knew each other's last names, not the jobs we had or music we were into, no strings, no attachments, nothing and it worked for us.

I headed home that evening and for some reason found it hard to relax, I didn't even bother changing out of my suit, I simply rolled up my sleeves and loosened my tie, settling into more work and rubbish tv. It was late when I finally decided to send Charlie an email, I only had her old address and I hoped she still used it:

 

[Hey. Sorry about today, I hope I didn't upset you too much. Maybe I read the signs wrong and made presumptions about what you wanted, old habits I guess. L x]

 

Short and to the point. Hopefully she would see it, otherwise this week would be slightly challenging. To my surprise, she responded almost immediately.

 

[You didn't read anything wrong… Can I come over? It's harder to talk when I can't see you C x]

 

She wanted to come over, I suppose that was fine. It was obvious that even at that early stage we were going to end up sleeping together out of old habit, but it would be slightly nostalgic for the both of us.

It took her nearly an hour for my door bell to go, I almost jumped up to answer it. It was obvious she had been crying, or she was still exhausted, maybe both. I stood to one side letting her inside, she was still wearing her long green jumper and jeans, though I had my suspicions that was all she was wearing. She looked around my house carefully, seeing that most of it was still the same, nothing had changed really, barely anything was new, she wandered towards the brown leather sofa and curled up at one end watching me head towards the kitchen.

I handed her a glass of water and sat at the other end of the sofa watching her stare mindlessly at the television. I kept my distance for a while longer, I was unsure of what she would think about me wanting to comfort her again. That was until she crawled over to me and kissed me, it was soft and tender almost uncertain, I kept my hands where they were in my lap, that was until she swung her leg over my waist. I felt her hips beneath my hands pushing into me while her tongue explored my mouth, I could feel her lips twitch into a small grin, a familiarity we had once had and it was here again, nothing had changed.

I slipped my hands under her jumper and as I suspected she wasn't wearing anything underneath, her soft skin felt good in my hands, feeling her push her hips closer to me when I skimmed over a particularly sensitive area of her body. It was easy with Charlie, we had already been through the awkward getting to know you stage a long time ago, I knew what she liked and what she didn't. I knew how to please her and when she wasn't enjoying herself. I knew her whole body so well and it was comfortable. I slid my hands underneath her legs and picked her up, she wrapped her legs around my waist and we kissed all the way to bedroom, where more comfortable familiarity took over.

 

I watched her rest for a few moments before she began to open her eyes and look at me with her huge emerald eyes. It was always the same, she would be momentarily confused before settling into the warm afterglow. Charlie hugged the crisp white pillow tight to her chest as she lay on her front watching my movements with a much sharper eye than I was used to. I pulled the cool sheet up so that only her back was visible, the way she always liked it. The light was dim but I could see a small scar on her back that wasn't there five years ago, I turned onto my side and brushed my hand over it making her shiver a little, her body went rigid underneath my touch.

‘Does it still hurt?’ I asked, only then realising she could have been in pain. But she shook her head and the reality suddenly felt that much heavier. ‘Tell me what happened.’ I used my no-nonsense voice, the one she liked me to used when we had sex, the one she would never refuse. There was a small grin when she heard it.

‘A client got aggressive.’ She said nonchalantly, she seemed settled on that answer.

‘Aggressive how?’

That dark and fearful look made a brief return, it was soon replaced with a shrug and a quiet smile that told me she wasn't in the talking mood. It was a trick she used on a lot of people and a trick she had mastered well, hardening her stare to look more intimidating and using short clipped sentences to put the conversation to bed. It wasn't a trick I was susceptible to. ‘Charlie, tell me what happened? This can't work if we lie to each other, what if I do something that reminds you of it? What if I end up hurting you and you can't tell me why?’ I made my case carefully watching her assess my features, it was something I often caught her doing, she would scan every part of my face before she replied to a question or voiced something she was thinking, like she was reading my mind before she spoke about something more personal. She had gotten much quicker with it over the years and it could've been mistaken for her simply not wanting to make eye contact.

‘It was three years ago, I pushed him too hard and I paid the price for it.’ She said, there was a small amount of hurt there but nothing compared to the Jameson case.

‘What did he do?’ I pressed.

‘It was just a normal session and he came in asking me questions I wasn't sure I was ready for.’ She propped herself up further on her elbows, her back arched and the scar stretched a little. ‘It was hard for him to accept that his daughter had left his life once and for all, he told me that I was the one who needed to get her back or there would be consequences. I tried to keep him calm and steer him towards a more reasonable train of thought, but it was no use. I turned around to get something from my desk, and…’ The words visibly got caught in her throat, I brushed my hand over her back again, gently feeling her soft skin under my hand. ‘He put a knife to my back, we got all the way to the street corner. I could feel the knife being pushed further into my body the more frustrated he got and the harder I tried to calm him. I don't remember what happened at the street corner, I just remember a line of police cars and then I woke up on the pavement. People were running around and it felt for a moment like no one even knew I was there, they were just rushing past me, so I just stayed there and waited. Eventually I fell asleep and the next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital.’

I kissed her shoulder more aggressively than I had intended, I felt her move away slightly, unsure of what was happening. I suddenly couldn't help myself, I wanted to take away the pain she felt, I wanted her to move away from the hurt. I ran my tongue over her shoulder, tasting a thin layer of sweat and soon I was kissing her again, she seemed more eager than before and again we fell into familiarity.

Morning came and the sharp sound of my alarm screeched in my ears, it took me a few moments to realise that's what the noise was before my hand found the snooze button. I turned over to find myself in a cool empty bed. Charlie always had a habit of disappearing in the middle of the night, nothing had changed.

I lifted my wonderfully achy body out of bed and began my morning routine, I made a coffee and turned on the news, before wandering into the bathroom to shave and shower, I stared in the mirror for a moment. It was hard for me to imagine what Charlie saw in me, my hair was heavily greying, my eyes were dark and sharp, most of my facial features were pointed and ageing. I wasn't in the best shape of my life, I went to the gym on rare occasions but the rest of my exercise came from walking my dogs, hardly a tough work out. And yet, this woman, this wonderfully attractive young woman saw something in me that she could deal with. I convinced myself that I would never truly understand what it was that she saw, that I should simply accept it.

I finished getting ready and headed into work feeling slightly more refreshed than the day before. Everything was back to normal, I had a nearly full day of lectures ahead of me and work to thrust myself into during the slower periods.

Madden had wandered into my office at lunchtime with an excited look on his face, he was like a child who had gotten his wish at Christmas. He sat down and smiled.

‘Guess what Leo?’ He said. I had my suspicions about his unprecedented glee but I couldn't take away the pleasure of him telling me the news himself. I shrugged taking off my thick rimmed glasses. ‘Miss Walker has agreed to do another lecture for us before she leaves.’

‘Wonderful.’ I couldn't have been less convincing if I tried, Madden frowned at me.

‘Is there a problem with that?’ He asked, ‘I just thought you'd be more excited than any of us to hear her speak, it's all about the brain after all?’

‘No I am excited,’ I really couldn't think of a good ending to the sentence that wouldn't reveal how I really felt. ‘I just figured she had better things to do than talk to medical students, that's all.’

Madden studied my face for a moment, I tried giving my most poised poker face. ‘You fancy her don't you?!’ He exclaimed, well he wasn't wrong I supposed. ‘In that case I'm definitely putting you in to introduce her again, you can stare at her arse all you like then.’

‘I really don't think that necessary Greg.’ I almost growled. Madden just laughed and picked himself up out of the chair opposite me, he buttoned his suit jacket and left shaking his head and laughing a disgusting laugh at me.

I wasn't exactly sure what had just happened, Charlie would be doing another lecture for my students and I would have to sit and endure it for an hour. I hadn't even spoken to her since the night before, I didn't even know where she was or why she had agreed to another lecture. The sharp ringing of my phone sounded in my ear, it was Charlie.

‘Hello?’ I said quietly.

‘Leo, I need a cardio guy.’ There was a lot of people talking in the background, she was working that much was obvious and her no nonsense voice took me by surprise, again not something I had been exposed to during the time I had spent with her.

‘What for?’ I asked naturally. I heard an agitated sigh on the other end while she thought about her response.

‘Please Leo, this is important. I need to talk to someone who knows cardio, someone you trust. Do you know anyone?’ I couldn't quite work out what to say, this was clearly something she wasn't used to, my guess was that if she asked for something, she got it nearly straight away, no questions asked.

‘I know someone. Claire Jones, she's one of the lecturers.’ I finally said, praying that I wouldn't have to call the woman.

‘I'll be there in an hour, have her and yourself meet me in the reception, I just have a few things for her to look at.’ She said, back to her business like voice. Before I could say anything else she hung up.

I waited a moment longer before putting the phone down. I wasn't sure what to do next but call Jones, something I really didn't want to do, the woman had the most embarrassing crush on me that I had been fighting for years.

 

‘Leo!’ She exclaimed, I had decided to take a walk to her office and ask her in person, that way I couldn't hang up on her when she asked me out. I'd have to tell her once and for all that it wasn't happening.

‘Hi Claire,’ I managed to keep my voice steady at least. ‘I just swung by to ask you a favour?’

‘Sure, what's up?’ She said, dropping everything to pay attention to me. In fairness she wasn't as unattractive as I often pictured her, she had dark brown hair that flowed over her shoulders, not the way Charlie's did, but her bright blue eyes were something to be reckoned with. Madden was like putty in her hands more often than not because of those eyes. Claire was around the same height as me and her frame was delicate and fragile, like she was something to be incredibly gentle with otherwise she’d break. She was smart as well, she was the best in her department, cardio was her thing hands down and no one matched her. I never knew what really turned me off about her, she was more of a sister or a close friend, until she tried it on and then I just hated her. No doubt if I told Charlie she would give me a proper explanation of what was going on in my head.

‘You remember Charlie Walker did a lecture for us?’ I started. ‘Well, she's an old friend of mine and she just called asking for my help, she asked for someone who knew cardio. Fancy meeting me in the reception in half an hour or so?’

‘An old friend?’ She asked slowly. I should've known she’d concentrate on that particular piece of information, maybe this wouldn't be as painless as I hoped it would. ‘I didn't realise she was that old?’

‘She's not. I just know her from a while back, just circumstance you know?’ I tried my hardest to sound as casual as possible.

There was a brief pause where she watched me for any signs of… Well, I actually don't think she knew what she was looking for.

‘Okay, I'll help, but you owe me.’ She had just a twang of hopefulness in her voice that was all too obvious for my liking.

‘Actually, Charlie will owe you, it's her you're helping.’ I said quickly before leaving her office and returning to the sanctuary of my own.

 

The half hour was up and I was waiting in the reception with Claire trying her hardest to engage me in a deep conversation. I was too busy planning the next day's work to be interested, harsh but I was already risking falling behind.

Charlie wandered in looking just as tired as she had done the day before. She had her skinny jeans and vans on again, but took to wearing a tight white tank top and an unbuttoned denim jacket over the top, she removed her sunglasses and let them hang on her tank top.

She took a breath and put the front up, a big friendly smile and a handshake that melted Claire somewhat.

‘Miss Jones, a pleasure. Leo tells me you're the best the university has to offer.’ She really was pulling out all the stops with Claire who was blushing slightly.

‘Well, I don't know about that, but I do my best.’ Claire tripped over her words slightly.

‘I'm sure it will be more than enough.’ Charlie gave me a sly look and the two women sat down to examine a few pictures on Charlie's tablet. I decided to leave then to it and grabbed a coffee from the café opposite the reception. Charlie gave a grave look before she concluded the conversation with Claire.

Claire checked her watch and headed back to her office before giving Charlie a scowl at how closely we were standing, no doubt Charlie knew full well about her crush on me and was waiting for the right time to play with it.

‘Get everything you need?’ It was a little colder than I had intended and she noticed.

‘What's got your knickers in a twist?’ She played. ‘Yeah, I did thanks for asking… She's cute, any chance of a date?’

I thought for a moment. Was she really asking me that question? ‘Probably not. She doesn't challenge me much.’

‘We all know you like a challenge Leo.’ Charlie winked. ‘Thank you, for last night.’ She said in a much quieter tone.

‘Didn't know we started thanking each other for it.’ I said raising my eyebrow intentionally.

‘It's not that I'm thanking you for. Thank you for being there.’ She said much more seriously.

‘What aren't you telling me Charlie?’ I asked as bluntly as I could. She laughed and shrugged.

‘A lot of things.’ She gave me one last look before leaving the university building. I couldn't help but think on her words for the rest of the day. In a strange way it was hard to think about how close we'd become without really knowing each other. I wondered if she felt the same way.

 

She was only in town for a week she said; that week was just about up and I hadn't heard from her since she spoke to Claire. She was probably busy, but I couldn't help but feel like she was avoiding me. I decided to send her a message, just to see.

 

[Hope your trip was successful and that Claire was useful. See you around L x]

 

It was short, inviting a response but not a full conversation, the way we always did it. It took nearly two hours for her to get back to me.

 

[Very busy, where are you?]

 

Something was off.

 

[Home why?]

 

[Need to see you. I’m coming to pick you up, be there in 20. I'll explain in the car.]

 

Something was definitely wrong, it wasn't like her to be so vague. I got on with work until I heard a loud knock at the door twenty minutes later. I opened the door to Charlie out of breath.

‘Get your coat, we need to go now!’ She said not even stepping inside the house.

‘Charlie, what are you talking about?’ She became more impatient than I'd ever seen her before.

‘Can you just trust me? For once in our lives can you just trust me?’ Charlie's anger was building up, she wasn't in the mood for anymore questions. I decided to just grab my coat and leave with her.

She drove ignoring all the speed limits to the police station downtown, she had tried her best to explain why we were going there in the car, but for the most part wasn't making much sense.

‘I don't understand, Charlie. What the hell is going on?’ I said finally after listening to enough of her mumblings. ‘Take a breath.’

‘Someone is coming for me. A man that I've been chasing for nearly a year now and before you ask, no, this isn't like the Jameson case. Albert Jameson could be saved, this one can't.’ Charlie had a fearful and grave look about her.

‘He's killed people?’

‘Yes, two of them were my friends. I'm not taking that risk again, that's why we’re going somewhere safe.’ She swerved around the corner, still not letting up with her speed.

‘I'm sorry.’ It was all I could think of saying.

‘Don’t be. They knew what they were doing.’

‘You didn't take them to the police station?’

There was a pause while thought whether to answer my question or not. ‘No, I didn't.’

‘Why not?’ It was a fair question, but clearly one she did not want to answer.

‘Because I knew what they were capable of. I knew that they could defend themselves if need be.’ She said angrily, the anger was aimed more at herself more than me. ‘I don't know you Leo! I don't know what you can do, this guy is dangerous and if he knows that you've helped me, he'll consider you a threat and I don't know what will happen after that. I'm not taking the risk.’ I didn't push anymore, the conversation was over.

 

We got to the police station and Charlie went about ensuring I was constantly within her sight. She really wasn't letting up on any accounts. She swept around the office picking up pieces of information here and there, she pinned a few photos to the board and shouted instructions across the room on occasion. She was so different to the person I knew, the person I thought she was.

She was constantly exhausted and here in her element, it showed. Claire had been taken back home hours before I approached Charlie with an idea.

‘Why don't you let me help? I'm here and doing nothing, let me help you.’ I stared down at someone I didn't recognise, a creature made entirely of fear and innocence. She took a moment to scan my face before she spoke.

‘If you were going to kill me, how would do it?’ Not the question I thought I was going to get. I took a moment to think before it hit me. The man she was chasing was now chasing her and she was struggling to keep the distance. I couldn't think how to answer her question or why she would want me to answer. It was as if she could read my mind. ‘I want you to answer the question because you know me the same way he does, you know me intimately. You know what I fear, you know what I hold dear. You know me in ways no one else does. So how would you kill me?’

I took a breath, thinking long and hard about my answer. ‘Well, I wouldn't use a gun, not if it was personal. Probably some kind of blunt instrument, if I'm angry enough to kill you, I'm angry enough to take my time. Maybe in a place you think is safe, I think if I knew I was going to be caught anyway, I wouldn't care where that was.’ I watched her mind take every piece of information I gave her and slip it into place. We both became suddenly very aware that the room was silent. We turned to see that the rest of the police station was on the ground hands behind their heads and standing at the door was a man with long dirty brown hair dangling over his eyes and a wolffish grin plastered to his face.

‘David.’ Charlie whispered.

‘I'm glad I found you with your boyfriend. I'll make sure to kill him first.’ The man laughed, he pulled his long coat to one side to reveal a highly detailed bomb strapped to his torso. ‘Aren't you going to introduce me Charlie?’ He asked eyeing me up. He slowly began walking towards, I risked a look to Charlie who was thinking very quickly.

‘This is Leo, he's an old friend of mine.’ She said with a lot more confidence than she had previously. She had a plan, that much was certain.

‘Old is right! What are you at least forty?’ He asked me. My throat was suddenly very dry and I was unable to speak. ‘Not much of a talker? No you're more of a doer, that much was clear when she came to visit you a week ago.’ He grabbed my arm and pushed me down hard onto the table next to where I was standing. ‘Tell me, how did it feel to have her wrapped around you, her warm flesh against you, listening to her breathe your name-‘ there was a sudden noise next to me, Charlie had knocked something on the floor.

Before I could really see what was happening, David had let me go and was pushing Charlie up against the wall, all I could hear was a slight choking sound, followed by a body slumping onto the ground. David moved out of the way to reveal Charlie fighting for life with a screw driver wedged into her stomach. Blood was pouring from her wound and there was nothing I could do. Twenty years of being a doctor and I was helpless, there was no way to get to her before David got to me first.

He took a pair of scissors from the desk and approached me. ‘I'm going to kill you in front of her, I'm going to make you suffer. I want her to remember the light leaving your eyes.’ David's arm came up high, but before he could bring it back down, there was a gun shot. His entire body fell over me, he was dead.

I turned to Charlie who was struggling to breathe, the gun shot had come from an officer on the floor next to her. He was now more concerned with Charlie than David. I pushed myself up and ran to Charlie, I began seeing to her wound. The officer tried to pull me away.

‘I'm a doctor!’ I yelled and was then left to continue tending to her. ‘You need to stay awake here Charlie. Stay awake and we’ll be alright.’ I said, trying to keep her calm.

‘I'm sorry.’ She moaned, she was starting to wail with the pain, she wouldn't be able to stay conscious if she didn't calm down.

‘It's okay, I promise it's okay. I need to take care of you though, so you need to stay calm. Let me help.’ She soon stopped moving as much and let me get on with my job. There was a lot more blood than I had counted on and my clothes were soon covered.

 

The ambulance arrived in time and we sped off to the hospital. I made a quick call to Madden and made sure he was aware of what was happening. He was a lot more sympathetic than I had counted on, but granted me a few days leave.

I stayed in the hospital for as long as I could, before a few of my old colleagues told me to go home and take a shower. I'd be notified if anything happens. I wasn't sure why I was so reluctant to leave, she was sleeping and doing well after her surgery, she was tough and a strong willed woman, she'd be fine if I wasn't there for a couple of hours. I was finally able to tear myself away and went home to freshen up.

I returned after a few hours sleep and she was just the same. Still sleeping, still peaceful. I sat by her bed the entire day, people from the police station came and went, they all asked how she was doing, and a few even thanked me for helping her. The one thing I noticed is that no family members or friends came to see her, I remember her telling me that two of her friends had died and I briefly wondered if they were in fact her only friends.

I continued to work by her bed, I made sure her music played quietly next to her bed. The only thing I knew she liked was Marcus Foster, so that is what she got all day playing softly. I listened to the lyrics and it made me a little sad to think that she might feel the same way.

 

‘I was tied, but now unbound  
My head is off the ground  
For a long time I was so weary  
Tired of the sound, I've heard before,  
The gnawing of the night time at the door,  
Haunted by the things I've made  
Stuck between the burning light and the dusty shade.  
I said now I used to think the past was dead and gone,  
But I was wrong, so wrong, whatever makes you blind  
Must make you strong, make you strong,  
In my time I've melted into many forms  
From the day that I was born, I know that there's no place to hide  
Stuck between the burning shade and the fading light,  
I was broken, For a long time, but It's over now.

Yes and you, and you,  
Well you walk these lonely streets that people send, People send.  
There are some wounds that just can't mend, I do pretend, pretend,  
I am free from all the things that take my friends  
But I will stand hear till the end, I know that I can take the moon,  
In between the burning shade and the fading light  
I was broken, for a long time, but It's over now  
I was broken, for a long time, but It's over now’

Finally after what seemed like weeks Charlie woke up, I'd been in the middle of a lecture when it happened and was granted permission to head straight for the hospital. I quickly grabbed my jacket from my office and began shutting everything down.

‘You're going to see her?’ Claire was standing at the door, looking impossibly exhausted.

‘If you mean Charlie, then yes.’ I said, cautiously. ‘Are you okay?’

‘Why would you do that? She put our lives in danger Leo, you nearly died.’ She was becoming a little hysterical. This really wasn't my forte.

‘I think you're exaggerating what happened. I was in the middle of a police station, I couldn't have been safer.’ I picked up my keys and phone, Claire stood to stop me from leaving. Her eyes were wide and bloodshot and she was shaking. ‘Are you sure you're okay?’ I tried to sound somewhat concerned but she either didn't care or couldn't hear me.

‘Are you in love with her?’ She asked.

‘What?! No, of course I'm not! She's a friend. I really don't think it's any of your business Claire.’ Students were beginning to turn back and give us strange looks. ‘Look, I think you should go home and rest for a few days. You're clearly not well.’

‘Then what is it? What does she have? She's a girl!’ Claire was getting a little out of control now, luckily Madden was heading in our direction.

‘Leo?’ He called. ‘I told you to get to the hospital. Walker’s awake.’ He said approaching us, Claire still hadn't moved, she was still staring at me wide eyed.

‘I think Claire needs to go home.’ I said, not looking at her.

‘Okay, that's fine. You've both been through a lot. Come on Claire, let's get a coffee and talk.’ Madden ushered her away, she was resisting heavily, but Madden was a burly guy, she didn't stand a chance. I leaned on my door frame and watched as they disappeared round the corner at the end of the corridor.

A few of the students said hello as they walked past and I gave them a friendly nod as I locked up my office and went to leave.

‘Dr Wilson?’ A voice called, I turned to see a familiar student walking up to me. I just wanted to get out of there.

‘Yes?’ I answered, sounding surprisingly exasperated. She walked up me smiling.

‘I was wondering if I could ask a quick question about the synapses essay?’ I ran my hand through my hair and checked my watch.

‘Yes, of course. Do you mind if we walk and talk though? I'm supposed to be meeting a friend soon.’ I said hurriedly.

‘No problem.’ She still had that huge grin on her face. She was fairly pretty and I knew she got along with most people in the class, but for the life of me I couldn't remember her name.

She asked her questions and I tried to answer as quickly and detailed as possible. She was actually quite smart and intuitive, thank goodness someone was listening in my lectures. We got to my car and I threw my case in the passenger seat and thought I heard a small hesitation in her voice as I took my jacket off. When I glanced up at her I could see her cheeks going a little red, when I slyly took a glance at myself, I couldn't see anything obviously wrong, so I just loosened my tie and rolled up my sleeves getting ready for the drive.

‘Everything you're saying is right.’ I said taking my glasses from my sun visor and giving them a quick clean. I walked up to her so that I didn't have to shout and ran my hand through my hair again, trying to keep my cool; her cheeks were scarlet. ‘I'm sure your essay will be fine… Are you okay?’ I slipped my glasses on and observed her.

‘Yes, just hot. It's warm out.’ She said trying to look anywhere but straight at me.

‘Okay.’ I said, turning back towards my car to get in. ‘Well, I look forward to reading your essay. Good luck with it.’ I gave a quick wave and drove off towards the hospital.

 

‘You're as blind as they come, do you know that?’ Charlie said, she was sitting up tapping away on her tablet.

‘You can talk.’ I said, handing her my glasses so she didn't have to squint at the screen. ‘You need to get your eyes tested.’

‘So do you!’ She chuckled slipping them on and no longer squinting. ‘Claire's obviously in love with you, combined with the adrenaline rush she had of meeting me, pleasing you and then finding out she could've been killed… Well, I'm actually surprised you weren't more affected by it all… And it's fairly common for students to fancy teachers they get along with, let me guess, you took your jacket off and ran your hand through your hair?’

‘Yeah, how did you know?’ I frowned.

‘It's your sexiest look… Please don't tell me you put your glasses on after? The poor girl was doomed from the beginning.’ Charlie chuckled again and winced at the pain in her stomach.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at her. ‘You'll rip your stitches.’ I said as I leaned on my hand. ‘And you're being ridiculous, just because you fancy me, doesn't mean the rest of the world does.’

It was the first time she looked up from her tablet, she raised one eyebrow in what I could only interpret as disbelief. ‘Leo, I'm nearly twenty years younger than you, I'm not a bad looking woman and no matter what you say to the contrary I'm pretty funny and smart as they come. I have options. Why do you think I got interested in you in the first place? I can tell you now it wasn't your pleasant bedside manner.’ She laughed, wincing again.

‘Here.’ I lifted the sheet and had a quick look at her stitches. ‘Yeah, you're about to rip those.’ I helped her settle into a more horizontal position and covered it back up. She didn't put her tablet down once. ‘I haven't got the slightest clue why you took an interest in me Charlie, but I thought I was a pretty lucky guy to land you.’ I saw her smile a little as she tapped away on her tablet. ‘What are you doing anyway?’

‘New case, it's pretty interesting.’ She shrugged.

‘Do you have to do that now?’

‘You got something else for me to do?’ She gave me her flirty smile. One I recognised a mile away. I just laughed and shook my head. ‘Can I ask you a question Leo?’

‘Sure.’

‘Why are you here?’ She stopped tapping and waited for my reaction. Truth be told I wasn't really sure why I was there.

‘No one else is here.’ There was a flicker of pain in the corner of her eye. ‘Why hasn't anyone come to visit?’

‘People don't care.’ She said, sadly. ‘People have their own issues, their own families. I travel around too much to make too many friends, it's not surprising that they all have people they'd rather comfort.’

‘That's sad.’

‘That's my life.’ She retorted. ‘Thank you for coming.’

I held her soft hand and smiled. ‘Anytime.’ I glanced out of her room and saw a couple of the nurses watching me. ‘You think the nurses out there fancy me?’

‘Obviously! God you are blind!’ She said frustrated, it just made me laugh all the more. We sat in silence for a while and listened to more music, it was nice, it was comfortable and for some reason, even though we'd never done it before, it was familiar.


End file.
